Earth anchors, tent stakes, and the like



Nov. 4, 1958 R. H. WENDT EARTH ANCHORS, TENT STAKES, AND THE LIKE Filed-Oct. 19,1953

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United States Patent i EARTH ANCHORS, TENT STAKES, AND THE LIKE Robert H. Wendt, Evanston, 1]]. Application October 19, 1953, Serial No. 386,903

4 Claims. (Cl. 189-92) The present invention relates to earth anchors, tent stakes and the like, and is particularly concerned with an improved earth anchor of a type adapted to be driven into the ground without previously digging any hole.

One of the objects of the invention is the provision of an improved earth anchor which is adapted to be constructed of stock materials, such as wires, rods, or strips of resilient material, combined with a guy rod in such manner that the guy rod and wires need only to be driver. into the earth after which suitable steps are taken to expand the resilient wires radially in all directions, extending transversely to the guy rod to provide an adequate anchoring action.

. Another object of the invention is the provision of 2 improved guy rods and anchors in which the guy rod may be salvaged or, in some embodiments of the invention, the entire anchor is adapted to be collapsed to a contracted condition while it is in the earth by manipulating the anchor rod and a guiding collar provided with the guy rod and anchor.

Another object of the invention is the provision of improved guy rods and anchors which may be manufactured economically, which include a minimum number of parts, which provide a maximum anchoringaction, and which are easy to drive into the earth because of their small size and the high unit pressure which they exert upon the earth.

Another object of the invention is the provision of improved anchoring devices which are easier to install because of being provided with relatively small sharpened points that penetrate the earth easily as distinguished from the anchors of the prior art, that have been made out of cast metal blades or sheet metal members which penetrate the earth with difficulty.

Another object of the invention is the provision of improved earth anchors constructed out of rods and wires of relatively small cross-sectional area, which are easily driven into the earth and which are adapted to bend to pass obstructions or rocks while the anchor is being set in the earth.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings, in which similar characters of reference indicate similar parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings accompanying this specification,

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic side elevational view in partial section showing an anchor installation, using a hoist to expand the anchor;

Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the anchor in collapsed position while the guy rod is being driven;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the plane of the line 3-3 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Fig. 1 is a side elevational, diagrammatic view in partial section showing a line pole 20, provided witha guy 21, which is secured at its upper end to a guying fixture 22 carried by a through bolt 23.

At its lower end the guy 21 is to be secured to a' guide Patented Nov. 4, 1958 rod and anchor assembly 24, but it is illustrated as using the guy and the guy rod 25 for setting the anchor. The guy rod 25 is provided with a suitable eye 26, which is attached to the hook 27 on the chain 28 of a chain hoist 29.

The chain hoist 29 has another hook 30 which may be secured to a cable clamp 31, clamping the guy cable 21 so that a tension may be placed upon the guy cable 21 by actuating the hoist handle 32. The loose end 33 of the guy cable 21 is indicated as extending off to one side from the cable clamp 31.

The anchor 34 comprises a multiplicity of pointed, resilient, arcuately curved, steel wires or rods 35, arranged as closely as possible to each other about the guy rod 25, engaging each edge to edge in a circle about the guy rod, and having their lower ends 36 in each case anchored and secured by welding or otherwise in a pointed head 37 for the guy rod 25.

The head 37 is made as small as possible commensurate with the size of the resilient wires or rods 35 that are anchored to it at their lower ends, and which are arranged edge to edge about the guy rod.

All of the resilient wires or rods have a natural curvature as illustrated by the dotted line position 35a in Fig. 2, and all are provided with sharply pointed ends 38 to enable them to penetrate'the earth as easily as possible.

In order to install the anchor all of the resilient wires or rods 35 are moved from the position 35a to the fullline position 35b where they are arranged in a circle, their edges engaging each other about the guy rod 25, which is cylindrical in shape.

The curvature of the resilient wires or rods 35a is thus reduced to a straight condition and they are so confined by a slidable' collar 39, located adjacent their upper pointed ends.

Because the resilient wires or rods 35a are located side by side, with their edges engaging each other, the bowed intermediate portions of these wires cannot escape laterally from the assembly, and so form a substantially cylindrical assembly of guy rod and wires as shown in Fig. 2.

The collar 29 is provided with a pair of elongated rod handles 40 diametrically opposite to each other and provided with an eye 41 at the top which registers with the eye 26 of the guy rod when the parts are in the position of Fig. 2, ready to drive.

A through bolt 42 is located in the eyes 41 of the collar handles and in the eye 26 of the guy rod, and provided with a nut securing these three members together.

The general mode of installation of the assembly is as follows:

With the parts thus bolted together the assembly is driven into the earth as shown in Fig. 2, and because of the small size of the guy rod, wires and head 37, this may be easily accomplished by means of a sledge.

The small projected end area of the assembly engages the earth with a high unit pressure that makes it easy.

to penetrate the earth under most conditions. The ease with which the assembly penetrates the earth is similar to that which is encountered when merely driving a moving the through bolt 42 and reinstalling it in the eyes 41 of the collar handles 40 by bending these slightly toward one side.

The hoist 29 and guy 21 are attached to the guy rod as shown in Fig. 1. The collar 39 is then driven downward from the position of Fig. 2 to that of Fig. l, where.

3 the 'collar 39 rests against an annular shoulder 43, provided on the upper side of the head 37.

The collar 39 now extends about the resilient wires 35 at'their'point of attachment to the head, but all the resilient wires tend to spring outwardly to one of the dottedline positions, shown at 35a in Fig. 2.

When the collar 39 is driven downward by hammering on the eyes 42 of the handles 40, the anchor stands still because itis held by the guy rod 21, cable clamp 31, and 'hoist 29. Now the anchor is incondition to be expanded and set and this is accomplished by placing additional tension on the guy rod by means of the hoist 29 and guy 21.

The hoist is actuated until the guy rod is withdrawn upward a distance which may be substantially the length of the resilient wires 35. The resilient wires having been released from the collar 39 and being of suflicient stiffness they tend to resume their normal curved condition exemplified at 3511. They do this by following their points 38 which are pressed and guided radially outward into the surrounding earth.

As the resilient wires are curved, they need only slide in the direction of their length radially outwardly, and upward, as the guy rod 25 is pulled upward and outward.

The resistance to movement of the guy rod will increase as the prongs reach a position generally transverse 'to the guy rod, as shown in Fig. 1. Then the guy rod is provided with a multiplicity of radially extending stiff,

resilient wires or rods which extend into the undisturbed earth surrounding the guy rod, and which not only act upon the earth adjacent them but each wire acts upon a tapered mound of earth located above each wire to provide an effective anchoring force.

The wires are easier to install because of their small size and pointed ends and because they move laterally in the direction of their length along a curved path.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2, the present anchor may be removed in its entirety with the guy rod from the earth by means of the collar 39 and collar handles 40 as follows:

Assuming that the guy 21 has been attached to the eye 26 by passing through the eye and being secured by the usual cable clamp, the guy 21 is first released from the guy rod 25.

The hoist 29 is attached to the guy 21, as shown, but

has its hook acting on the through bolt 42 which extends through the eyes 41 of the collar handles 40.

The hoist is actuated to tighten the guy 21 and support the collar 3? against further downward movement. Then the anchor may be collapsed by driving on the upper end of the guy rod 25, causing the resilient wires 35 to be withdrawn downward inside the collar 39.

This is continued by driving the guy rod 25 downward while the collar handles 40 stand still until the eye 41 registers with the eye 26 of the guy rod. Then the through bolt 42 is passed through the eyes 41 of the collar handles 40, making the collar and guide rod an assembly, as shown in Fig. 2, with all of the resilient prongs again arranged in cylindrical form about the guy rod, as shown in Fig. 2.

The hoist is then secured with its lower hook 27 to the eye assembly, including the eye 26, eyes 41 and bolt 42, and the assembly of Fig. 2 is pulled back out of the ground in the form shown in Fig. 2.

So far as I am aware, this is the first earth anchor which can be driven into the earth merely by using a sledge, and which can thereafter be expanded in the earth; but can also be collapsed and withdrawn from the earth in its original condition.

-I desire it to be understood that I use the words prongs, rods, or wires in this specificationin the sense which includes members of various types of cross section. Al-

though they are preferably round, they may befiat strips or bars, rectangular, square, hexagonal, diamond, triangular, or any other suitable cross section; and the round shape is preferred because of the economy intheir use. All such prongs are preferably provided with sharp points; but when wires are sufiiciently small in cross section, the provision of a special point shape may be eliminated.

With regard to the curvature of the prongs, many different forms of curvature may be employed; and I use the terms curve and curvature in such sense as to include straight prongs which are outwardly bent at their pointed ends or prongs having a plurality of straight portions between bends, or prongs which are curved according to any of the known geometric forms of curvature, such as circular, elliptical, parabolic, etc. The important thing is that the pointed ends of the prongs must be directed outwardly sufficiently to guide the prongs outward, as the end which is adjacent the guy rod moves downward or upward, as the case may be.

In regard to the size of the prongs and their length, the length may depend somewhat upon the size, as the effective resiliency increases with the length.

In some embodiments of the invention it may only be necessary to provide one or two or three relatively large prongs for accomplishing the anchoring result desired; and such prongs may be made of relatively large rods or wires, preferably symmetrically located about the guy rod.

The maximum anchorage is preferably secured by locating the prongs edge to edge about the guy rod and having them long enough relative to their stiffness so that they may be projected endwise into the undisturbed earth when the anchor is expanded.

It will thus be observed that I have invented anchors adapted to be driven without digging a hole and adapted to be expanded after they have been driven into the earth. The present guy rod and anchor assemblies are made out of stock materials, such as rods and wires, and mam-therefore, be manufactured economically and placed on the market at a low price.

Many of the forms of anchors shown may be collapsed and withdrawn and used over again; and in any case, the rod may be unscrewed from the anchor assembly and used over again, leaving the anchor in the ground.

Anchors constructed according to the present invention may be buried more deeply and longer guy rods may be used because it is not necessary to dig any hole; and thus the anchors may make up in holding force by being buried more deeply what the anchor may lose in holding force by having a reduced area of prongs resisting the pull of the guy rod.

While I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention, many modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, and I do not wish to be limited to the precise details of construction set forth, but desire to avail myself of all changes within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I'claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

l. A guy rod and anchor assembly adapted to be driven into the earth, expanded therein, collapsed again, and withdrawn by the same guy rod, comprising a guy rod having an eye at its upper end, and having a pointed head at its lower end, a multiplicity of pointed, resilient, arcuately curved steel wires arranged about said guy rod and welded thereto above said head, forming a roughly cylinhead, and said metal band being slidably mounted on said wires and movable from a lower position to an upper position in which the free ends of the arcuate'wires are *held in engagement with each othenforming acylindrical assembly about the guy rod, the said metal band being attached to an actuating rod for said metal band, for moving the band from an upper position to a lower position, the said actuating rod having a securing member located to be in registry with the eye of the guy rod when the resilient wires are all collapsed into cylindrical position about the guy rod, and said actuating rod being movable downward after the guy rod has been driven to a suitable depth to release the resilient wires, which move outward into anchoring position when a pull is exerted on the guy rod.

2. A guy rod and anchor assembly adapted to be driven into the earth, expanded therein, collapsed again, and withdrawn by the same guy rod, comprising a guy rod having an eye at its upper end, and having a pointed head at its lower end, a multiplicity of pointed, resilient, arcuately curved steel wires arranged about said guy rod and welded thereto above said head, forming a roughly cylindrical assembly of wires at the point of welding which is smaller in diameter than said head, the said resilient wires engaging each other edge to edge to cover the adjacent portion of the guy rod and to reinforce each other against bending laterally when confined against each other and against the guy rod, said wires having a metal band about their lower ends engaging a shoulder on said head, and said metal band being slidably mounted on said wires and movable from a lower position to an upper position in which the free ends of the arcuate wires are held in engagement with each other, forming a cylindrical assembly about the guy rod, the said metal band being attached to an actuating rod for said metal band, for moving the band from an upper position to a lower position, the said actuating rod having a securing member located to be in registry with the eye of the guy rod when the resilient wires are all collapsed into cylindrical position about the guy rod, and said actuating rod being movable downward after the guy rod has been driven to a suitable depth to release the resilient wires, which move outward into anchoring position when a pull is exerted.

on the guy rod, the said actuating rod serving also to slide upwardly and to collapse the resilient wires about the guy rod when the actuating rod is secured against further downward movement and the guy rod is driven further downwardly.

3. A guy rod and anchor assembly adapted to be driven into the earth, expanded therein, collapsed again, and withdrawn by the same guy rod, comprising a guy rod having an eye at its upper end, and having a pointed head at its lower end, a multiplicity of pointed, resilient, arcuately curved steel wires arranged about said guy rod and welded thereto above said head, forming a roughly cylindrical assembly of wires at the point of welding which is smaller in diameter than said head, the said resilient wires engaging each other edge to edge to cover the adjacent portion of the guy rod and to reinforce each other against bending laterally when confined against each other and against the guy rod, said wires having a metal band about their lower ends engaging a shoulder on said head, and said metal band being slidably mounted on said Wires and movable from a lower position to an upper position in which the free ends of the arcuate wires are held in engagement with each other, forming a cylindrical assembly about the guy rod, the said metal band being attached to an actuating rod for said metal band, for

moving the band from an upper position to a lower posi-- tion, the said actuating rod having a securing member rod when the actuating rod is secured against further downward movement and the guy rod is driven further downwardly, the said guy rod and anchor assembly being removable when the eye on the guy rod and the securing member on the actuating rod are in registry and all of the wires are again secured in cylindrical form about the guy rod.

4. A guy rod and anchor assembly adapted to be driven into the earth, expanded therein, collapsed again, and withdrawn by the same guy rod, comprising a guy rod having an eye at its upper end, and having a pointed head at its lower end, a multiplicity of pointed, resilient, arcuately curved steel wires arranged about said guy rod and welded thereto above said head, forming a roughly cylindrical assembly of wires at the point of welding which is smaller in diameter than said head, the said resilient wires engaging each other edge to edge to cover the adjacent portion of the guy rod and to reinforce each other against bending laterally when confined against each other and against the guy rod, said wires having a metal band about their lower ends engaging a shoulder on said head, and said metal band being slidably mounted on said wires and movable from a lower position to an upper position in which the free ends of the arcuate wires are held in engagement with each other, forming a cylindrical assembly about the guy rod, the said metal band being attached to an actuating rod for said metal band, for moving the band from an upper position to a lower position, the said actuating rod having an eye located to be in registry with the eye of the guy rod when the resilient wires are all collapsed into cylindrical position about the guy rod, and said actuating rod being movable downward after the guy rod has been driven to a suitable depth to release the resilient wires, which move outward into anchoring position when a pull is exerted on the guy rod, the said actuating rod serving also to slide upwardly and to collapse the resilient wires about the guy rod when the actuating rod is secured against further downward movement and the guy rod is driven further downwardly, the said guy rod and anchor assembly being removable when the eyes on the guy rod and actuating rod are in registry and all of the wires are again secured in cylindrical form about the guy rod, the said rods being pro vided with a removable securing bolt through both eyes to secure the rods in such position that the wires remain collapsed into cylindrical assembly.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 740,399 Clum Oct. 6, 1903 1,153,450 Schafi Sept. 14, 1915 2,176,566 Dillon Oct. 17, 1939 2,243,886 Scott June 3, 1941 2,374,740 Gadow May 1, 1945 2,576,412 Ogburn Nov. 27, 1951 2,705,548 Lionberger Apr. 5, 1955 2,748,909 Schultz June 5, 1956 2,755,734 Smith July 24, 1956 

